Counting the Days: December 15, 2023
Mark Regensburger, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Management
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
Reflection
When I was a child, we always visited my grandmother’s house for Christmas Eve. Growing up in the Midwest U.S., this was at the darkest time of year; the sun set early, and it was usually cold and snowy. My grandmother grew up in southern Germany, so we followed her Christmas traditions: we bought her a live Christmas tree that day and dragged it into her house as it was getting dark and decorated it with a few ornate glass ornaments she had brought from Germany. Rather than electric lights, she used candles, and only that one night, Christmas Eve. After dinner, we all lit the candles together, and opened our few simple presents, and sat in the glow of that little circle of light in the midst of a dark evening. And in that special light we knew that we were her children, and that we were loved.
At Christmastime, we are in the darkest part of the calendar year. This year seems especially dark, with so much evil evident in the world, and so many even finding excuses for that evil. It is a world that seems to love darkness and fear the light. It is easy to lose hope. But the true light, which gives light to all, is with us always. When we receive that light, when we dare to believe that the light always wins, when we accept grace and truth into our lives, we are no longer children of darkness. We are children of light, and we can truly know the light. And in becoming children of His light, we shine with Jesus’ glory, and grace, and truth, wherever we go. So, in this season of darkness, go, and shine with His glory.